Mat Structure and Sole Structure

ABSTRACT

A sole structure includes: an anti-skid layer, a rigid layer, an elastic piece and a soft layer which are superimposed upon one another. With the characteristic of the elastic piece being elastically deformable, a rebounding force can be produced to act on the foot to stimulate the ligaments and muscles of the foot, which consequently corrects flatfootedness.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/414,463, filed on May 16, 2019, which is acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 15/266,749, filed on Sep. 15, 2016, theentire specifications of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a foot stimulating structure, and moreparticularly to a mat structure. The present invention further relatesto a sole structure.

Description of Related Art

Flatfoot is a condition in which the arch of the foot has flattened out,and generally includes pseudo flatfoot, flexible flatfoot and rigidflatfoot. Among them, the pseudo flatfoot is common in toddlers due tothe fatty of the foot hides the arch formation, and the arch of the footwill gradually be visible as the toddlers grow up. Flexible flatfoot isthe most common flatfoot and caused by ligament laxity. Therefore, a lotof therapeutic products for the treatment of flatfoot appeared in themarket, for instance, corrective shoes.

However, the flatfoot corrective shoes in the market are very expensive,and the user will feel uncomfortable when wearing the corrective shoesfor a long time.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate theafore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY

One objective of the present invention is to provide a foot stimulatingmat structure which is capable of massaging the foot, relieving pressureand correcting the flatfoot.

To achieve the above objects, a mat structure provided by the inventioncomprises: an anti-skid layer, a rigid layer, an elastic piece and asoft layer which are superimposed upon one another;

the anti-skid layer is made of anti-skid material;

the rigid layer is attached to one side of the anti-skid layer, onesurface of the rigid layer has a wavy shape and includes at least oneconvex portion and at least one concave portion, a surface of the convexportion has an arc-shaped shape, and the concave portion is locatedbetween two said convex portions;

the elastic piece is a wavy piece having one surface attached to thesurface of the rigid layer, and made of an elastically deformablematerial, a wavy shape of the elastic piece matches with a shape of thesurface of the rigid layer, the elastic piece has a plurality ofprojections and recesses connected one another, the projections areattached to the surface of the convex portions, the recesses are locatedin the concave portions, and curves of the projections and the recessesare arc-shaped;

the soft layer has one surface attached to another surface of theelastic piece, and the material of the soft layer is softer than that ofthe rigid layer.

A mat structure for mounting a shoe body, comprising: an anti-skidlayer, a rigid layer, an elastic piece and a soft layer which aresuperimposed upon one another;

the anti-skid layer being made of anti-skid material;

the rigid layer being attached to one side of the anti-skid layer, onesurface of the rigid layer having a wavy shape and including at leastone convex portion and at least one concave portion, a surface of theconvex portion has an arc-shaped shape, and the concave portion beinglocated between two said convex portions;

the elastic piece is a wavy piece having one surface attached to thesurface of the rigid layer, and made of an elastically deformablematerial, a wavy shape of the elastic piece matching with a shape of thesurface of the rigid layer, the elastic piece having a plurality ofprojections and recesses connected one another, wherein the projectionsand the recesses are arc-shaped and arranged at intervals, every twosaid adjacent projections and a corresponding one of the recessesbetween the every two said adjacent projections together define anaccommodating space, the projections are attached to the surface of theconvex portions, the recesses are located in the concave portions;

the soft layer having one surface attached to another surface of theelastic piece, wherein the soft layer is disposed in the accommodatingspaces and located between two said adjacent projections, and thematerial of the soft layer is softer than that of the rigid layer; and

an insole layer attached to another surface of the elastic piece,wherein the insole layer covers the elastic piece and the soft layer,the projections directly abut against the insole layer.

As can be seen from the foregoing, with the characteristic of theelastic piece being elastically deformable, a rebounding force can beproduced to act on the foot to stimulate the ligaments and muscles ofthe foot, which consequently corrects the flatfoot. Furthermore, theprojections directly abut against the insole layer, so that theprojections stimulate the sole of the user' foot through the insolelayer, which considerably improves the effect of stimulating the sole ofthe user' foot.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with thevarious features of novelty which characterize the invention, arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention,its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses,reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptivematter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the mat structure in accordance witha preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view showing that a user steps on the mat ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross sectional view of the sole structure of theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the elastic piece;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an elastic piece;

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an elasticpiece;

FIG. 6B is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the elastic piece;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an elasticpiece;

FIG. 7B is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the elastic piece;

FIG. 8A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an elasticpiece; and

FIG. 8B is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the elastic piece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will be clearer from the following descriptionwhen viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, forpurpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordancewith the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1-2, a mat structure in accordance with the presentinvention comprises: an anti-skid layer 10, a rigid layer 20, an elasticpiece 30, a soft layer 40 which are superimposed upon one another.

The anti-skid layer 10 is made of anti-skid material which can be PVCand rubber.

The rigid layer 20 is attached to one side of the anti-skid layer 10,one surface 20A of the rigid layer 20 has a wavy shape which is close toa sine wave type. The rigid layer 20 includes at least one convexportion 21 and at least one concave portion 22. The convex portion 21 isa protruding portion, and the surface 20A of the convex portion 21 hasan arc-shaped shape for stimulating the foot of the user, and theconcave portion 22 is located between the two convex portions 21.

The elastic piece 30 is a wavy piece having one surface attached to thesurface 20A of the rigid layer 20, and made of an elastically deformablematerial, such as a metal sheet made of aluminum or titanium, orChromium Molybdenum Vanadium Steel, or a sheet made of other materialswhich are elastically deformed after being subjected to a force, such asa soft thermoplastic or the like. The wavy shape of the elastic piece 30matches with the shape of the surface 20A of the rigid layer 20 suchthat the elastic piece 30 has a plurality of projections 31 and recesses32 connected one another, the projections 31 are attached to the surface20A of the convex portions 21, the recesses 32 are located in theconcave portions 22, and the curves of the projections 31 and therecesses 32 is arc-shaped.

The soft layer 40 has one surface attached to another surface of theelastic piece 30, such that the elastic piece 30 is located between thesoft layer 40 and the rigid layer 20. The material of the soft layer 40is softer than the material of the rigid layer 20. Preferably, the softlayer 40 fills the recesses 32 and can be made of materials such asethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), chemically crosslinkedpolyethylene foaming material (XPE), expandable polyethylene (EPEExpandable Polyethylene), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

A preferred embodiment can further include a simulation layer 50 havingone surface attached to another surface of the soft layer 40, andanother surface of the simulation layer 50 is a simulation surface 51which can simulate the touch of beach, grassland and rocky land.

A sole structure for mounting on a shoe body U, please refer to FIGS.3-8B, and the sole structure includes: an anti-skid layer 60, a rigidlayer 70, an elastic piece 80, a soft layer 90 which are superimposedupon one another.

The anti-skid layer 60 is made of anti-skid material which can be PVCand rubber.

The rigid layer 70 is attached to one side of the anti-skid layer 60,one surface 70A of the rigid layer 70 has a wavy shape which is close toa sine wave type. The rigid layer 70 includes at least one convexportion 71 and at least one concave portion 72. The convex portion 71 isa protruding portion, and the surface 70A of the convex portion 71 hasan arc-shaped shape for stimulating the foot of the user, and theconcave portion 72 is located between the two convex portions 71.

The elastic piece 80 is a wavy piece having one surface attached to thesurface 70A of the rigid layer 70, and the elastic piece 80 has a wavyshape which is close to a sine wave type and is made of an elasticallydeformable material, such as a metal sheet made of aluminum or titanium,or Chromium Molybdenum Vanadium Steel, or a sheet made of othermaterials which are elastically deformed after being subjected to aforce, such as a soft thermoplastic or the like. The wavy shape of theelastic piece 80 matches with the shape of the surface 70A of the rigidlayer 70 such that the elastic piece 80 has a plurality of projections81 and recesses 82 connected one another in sequence. The projections 81and the recesses 82 are arranged at intervals, and the curves of theprojections 81 and the recesses 82 are arc-shaped, so that theappearance of the elastic piece 80 is continuously wavy. For example,two adjacent projections 81 are connected by one of the recesses 82, andtwo adjacent recesses 82 are connected one of the projections 81. Theelastic piece 80 includes a top surface 80A and a bottom surface 80Bopposite to each other. The bottom surface 80B of the elastic piece 80is attached to the surfaces of the convex portions 71 and the concaveportions 72, the positions of the projections 81 correspond to thepositions of the convex portions 71, the positions of the recesses 82correspond to the positions of the concave portions 72. The two adjacentprojections 81 and the recess 82 between the two adjacent projections 81together define an accommodating space 83, and the elastic piece 80includes a plurality of accommodating spaces 83 on the top surface 80A,and the projections 81 are provided for pressing against and stimulatingthe soles of the user's feet.

In this embodiment, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the elastic piece 80includes a front end 85 and a rear end 86 opposite to each other. Thefront end 85 corresponds to the position of the user's toes, and therear end 86 corresponds to the position of the user's heel. An extendingdirection between the front end 85 and the rear end 86 is a longitudinaldirection X. The elastic piece 80 includes an inner side 87 and an outerside 88 opposite to each other. The inner side 87 corresponds to theinner side of the foot, the outer side 88 corresponds to the outer sideof the foot, the inner side 87 is closer to the other shoe body U thanthe outer side 88, an extending direction between the inner side 87 andthe outer side 88 is a transverse direction Y, and the transversedirection Y is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X. A lengthof the elastic piece 80 in the longitudinal direction X is greater thanthat of the elastic piece 80 in the transverse Y, the projections 81 andthe recesses 82 of the elastic piece 80 are arranged in sequence alongthe longitudinal direction X, and the projections 81 and the recesses 82extend along the transverse direction Y.

In a preferred embodiment, please refer to FIGS. 6A and 6B, thedistances between adjacent projections 81 are different, it is definedthat the elastic piece 80 includes a forefoot section 80F and a heelsection 80R. The forefoot section 80F is closer to the front end 85 thanthe heel section 80R, the heel section 80R is closer to the rear end 86than the forefoot section 80F, and an arch section 8M is connectedbetween the forefoot section 80F and the heel section 80R. A distancebetween every two adjacent projections 81 in the forefoot section 80F isa first distance D1, a distance between every two adjacent projections81 in the heel section 80R is a second distance D2, a distance betweenevery two adjacent projections 81 in the arch section 80M is a thirddistance D3, and the third distance D3 is greater than the firstdistance D1 and the second distance D2, so that the density of theprojections 81 in the heel section 80R and the forefoot section 80F isrelatively higher while the density of the projections 81 in the archsection 80M is relatively lower, and as a result, the heel and forefootof the user can get greater stimulation and massage. However, the firstdistance D1, the second distance D2, and the third distance D3 can bechanged according to user's needs. For example, when the elastic piece80 is provided to relieve plantar fasciitis, the third distance D3 willbe smaller than the first distance D1 and the second distance D2, whichfurther makes the density of the projections 81 in the arch section 80Mhigher than the density of the projections 81 in the heel section 80Rand the forefoot section 80F.

In a preferred embodiment, please refer to FIGS. 7A and 7B, therespective projections 81 and the recesses 82 are arranged in sequencealong the longitudinal direction X, and extend along the transversedirection Y, each of the projections 81 includes a horizontal groove811, and the horizontal groove 811 extends along the transversedirection Y, so that each of the projections 81 forms twosub-projections 812, and the two sub-projections 812 are located at twoopposite sides of the horizontal groove 811, and the two sub-projections812 can provide a better massage effect.

In a preferred embodiment, referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, a width of eachof the projections 81 of the elastic piece 80 along the longitudinaldirection X is a first width L1, a width of each of the recesses 82 ofthe elastic piece 80 along the longitudinal direction X is a secondwidth L2, the first width L1 gradually decreases from the inner side 87to the outer side 88, and the second width L2 gradually increases fromthe inner side 87 to the outer side 88. The first width L1 on the innerside 87 of the elastic piece 80 is larger than the second width L2, andthe first width L1 on the outer side 88 of the elastic piece 80 issmaller than the second width L2. As a result, the inner side of theuser's foot can be stimulated.

The soft layer 90 is disposed in the accommodating space 83 of theelastic piece 80 and located between two adjacent projections 81, andthe soft layer 90 does not fully covers the projections 81, such thatthe elastic piece 80 is located between the soft layer 90 and the rigidlayer 70. The projections 81 can directly abut against the sole of theuser's foot. The material of the soft layer 90 is softer than thematerial of the rigid layer 70. The soft layer 90 can be made ofmaterials such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), chemicallycrosslinked polyethylene foaming material (XPE), expandable polyethylene(EPE Expandable Polyethylene), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

A preferred embodiment can further include an insole layer A attached toanother surface of the elastic piece 80. The insole layer A covers theelastic piece 80 and the soft layer 90, the projections 81 directly abutagainst the insole layer A, so that the projections 81 stimulate thesole of the user' foot through the insole layer A.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the soft layer 90 is only disposed in theaccommodating space 83, but does not completely cover the projections81, so that the projections 81 can directly abut against the sole of theuser's foot or contact the insole layer A to greatly enhance the effectof stimulating ligaments and muscles.

In another embodiment, please refer to FIG. 5, the projections 81 andthe recesses 82 are arranged in sequence along the transverse directionY, and extend along the longitudinal direction X. Two ends of each ofthe projections 81 and the recesses 82 respectively extend to the frontend 85 and the rear end 86. Similarly, the convex portions 71 and theconcave portions 72 of the rigid layer 70 are also arranged along thetransverse direction Y in sequence, so that different positions of thesole of the foot can be massaged continuously along the longitudinaldirection X as the center of gravity shifts while the user is walking.In addition, the user can shift the center of gravity of the sole of thefoot when standing, so that the center of gravity is transferred fromthe inner side of the sole to the outer side, and then from the outerside back to the inner side. In this way, the sole of the foot can befully massaged when the user stands.

What mentioned above are the structural relations of the maincomponents, and for the operation and function of the embodiment,reference should be made to FIG. 1-3.

When a user steps on the mat structure or the sole structure of thepresent invention, a load is provided on the elastic pieces 30, 80 tocause deformation of the elastic pieces 30, 80. When the stress of thefoot F disappears, the elastic pieces 30, 80 will restore the originalshape to provide the foot F a rebounding force to stimulate theligaments and muscles of the foot F, thereby achieving the purpose ofcorrecting the flat foot.

In addition, although the rigid layers 20 and 70 are harder than thesoft layers 40 and 90, the rigid layers 20 and 70 will still deform to acertain extent when subjected to a force, thereby providing the foot F areaction force in a timely manner, which can also give the elasticpieces 30, 80 margin of deformation.

It is worth mentioning that, since the shape of the rigid layers 20, 70are wavy, and the material of the soft layers 40, 90 is softer than thematerial of the rigid layers 20, 70, so when walking on the mat or thesole, the user can receive the stimulating generated by the archdeformation and height change of the convex portions 21, 71 and theconcave portions 22, 72, which consequently boosts the strength of theligament and muscle of the foot. Besides, acupuncture points of the footF can also be stimulated to effectively improve blood circulation.

In addition, the novel sole structure of the invention can mainly givethe foot F different position stimulations every time the user stepsout. In detail, since the center of gravity will be shifted from theheel to the front of the foot, when the user is walking. During thegravity shifting, the sole structure is given stress at differentpositions, and when the elastic pieces 30, 80 of the sole structureelastically restore shape, the rebounding force can give the foot Fconsiderable stimulation, and then massage the feet and relieve stress.

While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance withthe present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art thatfurther embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mat structure for mounting a shoe body,comprising: an anti-skid layer, a rigid layer, an elastic piece and asoft layer which are superimposed upon one another; the anti-skid layerbeing made of anti-skid material; the rigid layer being attached to oneside of the anti-skid layer, one surface of the rigid layer having awavy shape and including at least one convex portion and at least oneconcave portion, a surface of the convex portion has an arc-shapedshape, and the concave portion being located between two said convexportions; the elastic piece is a wavy piece having one surface attachedto the surface of the rigid layer, and made of an elastically deformablematerial, a wavy shape of the elastic piece matching with a shape of thesurface of the rigid layer, the elastic piece having a plurality ofprojections and recesses connected one another, wherein the projectionsand the recesses are arc-shaped and arranged at intervals, every twosaid adjacent projections and a corresponding one of the recessesbetween the every two said adjacent projections together define anaccommodating space, the projections are attached to the surface of theconvex portions, the recesses are located in the concave portions; thesoft layer having one surface attached to another surface of the elasticpiece, wherein the soft layer is disposed in the accommodating spacesand located between two said adjacent projections, and the material ofthe soft layer is softer than that of the rigid layer; and an insolelayer attached to another surface of the elastic piece, wherein theinsole layer covers the elastic piece and the soft layer, theprojections directly abut against the insole layer.
 2. The mat structureas claimed in claim 1, wherein the anti-skid material is PVC or rubber.3. The mat structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic pieceincludes a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to each other, thebottom surface is attached to surfaces of the convex portions and theconcave portions, and the accommodating spaces are located on the topsurface.
 4. The mat structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elasticpiece includes a front end and a rear end opposite to each other, anextending direction between the front end and the rear end is alongitudinal direction, the elastic piece includes an inner side and anouter side opposite to each other, an extending direction between theinner side and the outer side is a transverse direction, the projectionsand the recesses of the elastic piece are arranged in sequence along thelongitudinal direction, and the projections and the recesses extendalong the transverse direction.
 5. The mat structure as claimed in claim4, wherein distances between the respective adjacent projections aredifferent, the elastic piece includes a forefoot section and a heelsection, the forefoot section is closer to the front end than the heelsection, the heel section is closer to the rear end than the forefootsection, an arch section is connected between the forefoot section andthe heel section, a distance between every two adjacent projections inthe forefoot section is a first distance, a distance between every twoadjacent projections in the heel section is a second distance, adistance between every two adjacent projections in the arch section is athird distance, and the third distance is greater than the firstdistance and the second distance.
 6. The sole structure as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the elastic piece is made of aluminum or titanium, orChromium Molybdenum Vanadium Steel.